Most of a building's large expenses do not appear out of nowhere. They give warning signs for years — and nobody reads them, because nobody is tasked with looking. A preventive maintenance plan is, essentially, the decision to look methodically.
The baseline calendar
Every month
- Visual check of common areas, lighting and automatic gates.
- Meter readings and confirmation of any consumption outside the normal pattern (abnormal water use is nearly always a leak).
Every quarter
- Gutters, drains and downpipes: clearing them before autumn prevents half of winter's water ingress.
- Pumping and pressurisation sets, where fitted.
- Landscaping and irrigation systems.
Every year
- Roof and terraces: joints, flashings, waterproofing membranes.
- Façade: cracks, spalling, sills, balconies.
- Common-area electrical installation, boards and RCDs.
- Fire equipment: extinguishers, hydrants, signage, emergency lighting.
- Review of the building insurance — sums insured fall out of date easily.
Under mandatory contract, on their own legal schedule
- Lifts: maintenance contract with a certified company plus the mandatory periodic inspections.
- Gas installations, where communal.
- Water tanks and HVAC systems, where present.
Why deferral costs more
A waterproofing membrane patched in time costs a few hundred euros. The same roof, after two winters of leaks, means replacing the whole membrane, treating ceilings, repainting affected units and, frequently, arguing about liability with the top-floor owners.
The arithmetic is almost always the same: preventive work costs a fraction of corrective work, and it brings no conflict and no emergency levy.
Insurance is not a maintenance plan
Worth saying plainly: insurers frequently decline claims whose cause is demonstrable lack of maintenance. A documented plan — dates, reports, photographs — is not only a management tool. It is what lets the building actually claim when it needs to.
Turning the plan into a budget
A good plan ends in a multi-year map: what will need doing over the next five to ten years and what it costs at today's prices. That map is what lets you calibrate the reserve fund and avoid levies. Without it, the annual budget is guesswork.
How we do it
We carry out a physical audit of the building before taking over, set up the inspection calendar, and perform most interventions with our own team. Every visit is recorded with photographs, and the building's condition is reported to owners — not only when something fails.
This article is for general information. Statutory inspection obligations vary with the equipment installed in each building.